New recruits for Project 100 training

Volunteers from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness and Argyll & Bute were among the latest recruits to join us at Project 100 peer mentor training this month.

The training, delivered by our friends at Positively UK, gave the volunteers the knowledge and skill to use their experiences of living with HIV to help others.

Over three days, the group of 11 were introduced to the concept of peer mentoring, looking at skills like active listening and how they can share their stories in a way that will provide support to others.

Living with HIV can affect just about every aspect of a person’s life. It can be a lot to take in and, often, we meet service users who have become socially isolated as a result. This can have a huge impact on physical and emotional health.

Peer support offers the opportunity for people to know that they are not alone, to gain support from people who have been through the same things and to build support networks.

This is the second Project 100 course we have hosted at Waverley Care. Through the initiative, Positively UK are planning to train 1,000 peer mentors, with the ambition that all people living with HIV have access to this kind of support.

The group will be able to use their new skills to support Waverley Care service users, whether one-to-one, or in groups. As qualified peer mentors, the group will also be able to use the skills they have learned anywhere in the UK.